Friday - NZFC - research

 Hi guys!

Today's research is going to be useful for any essay regarding ownership.

We are going to look into the New Zealand Film Commission. 

I want you to open your case study blog post and do some research on the NZFC and answer the following questions;

1. Who are the NZFC and what is their primary purpose?
2. What films have they funded in the last 5 years that did really well internationally?
3. What films have they funded in the last 5 years that you have seen or that you know have been popular?
4. What services do the NZFC offer to help NZ filmmakers in the production process?

www.nzfilm.co.nz/new-zealand

List of films from NZFC

Now I want you to consider the following question on a brainstorming page that you will title, "INSTITUTIONS (OWNERSHIP)".

Flick though this slideshow and make some notes but keep in mind this is British and we are focusing on the NZFC so mainly take the generalised points about ownership and what affect it has on a film being made.

"How does the status of the institution impact on how they engage with the major stages of production?"
(basically, how does it impact a film being made to have the backing of a massive conglomerate like Disney, as opposed to being a filmmaker from NZ wanting to make an indi film).

Write points for;

1. Production (getting funding / cast & crew / music for the film / technology & equipment)
2. Distribution / marketing ( actors promoting the film / vertical & horizontal integration / synergy & cross-media-convergence)
3. exhibition & exchange (the type of release you may have / the rights to the film / piracy)

Wed - End of Audience Theory (Shirky)

  Shirky – end of audience theory.

What is it?

Audience behaviour has changed due to the internet and the ability for audiences to create their own content at home thanks to the lower cost of technology. This new audience doesn’t just consume media, but also produces it – creating the term ‘prosumer’.

Amateur content made this way has different values to professional media producers, in that it promotes a connection between other amateur producers – they both deeply care about the products they make and can help them work together.

When they work together in this way, audiences can make more content than producers – Wikipedia is a good example of this.

What is the advanced version?

In the ‘old’ media, centralised producers addressed atomised consumers; in the ‘new’ media, every consumer is now a producer. Traditional media producers would ‘filter then publish’; as many ‘new’ media producers are not employees, they ‘publish then filter’.

These amateur producers have different motivations to those of professionals – they value autonomy, competence, membership and generosity. User-generated content creates emotional connection between people who care about something. This can generate a cognitive surplus – for example, Wikipedia can aggregate people’s free time and talent to produce value that no traditional medium could match.

‘The Audience’ as a mass of people with predictable behaviour is gone. Now, behaviour is variable across different sites, with some of the audience creating content, some synthesising content and some consuming content. The ‘old’ media created a mass audience. The ‘new’ media provide a platform for people to provide value for each other.

Tuesday Classwork - Air NZ Viral In-Flight Safety video

Hey guys,

You are going to add this example to your portfolio for a case study in the area of marketing.

Have a look at the viral in-flight safety video that Air NZ made in the theme of the Hobbit. It's a great example of CMC + Synergy.

Watch the VIDEO here  

Notes to write

1. How many hits did it get on Youtube? 

2. what year was this made? 

3. Why is this a good example that illustrates how NZ film is used for a different purpose than the films created for the Big 5? Was this safety video purely for entertainment? 

Monday : Dark Knight Marketing Campaign VS. WWDITS marketing campaign

 Marketing Campaigns 

Ok we are going to look at 2 really interesting examples for marketing campaigns for films. One was a big budget, blockbuster film and one was an Indi, lower budget, crowd-funded movie. 

Firstly, make a couple of important notes 

- year film came out

- who directed it

- budget 

Then watch this video +  read the articles to learn more about the marketing campaigns they used. Make some notes;

Dark Knight viral Marketing campaign

Link to WWDITS article

Homework - Due Week 10 (Marketing Essay)

 Hi guys,

Here is your homework for the week, due on Monday;

You are going to answer this essay question;

"To what extent has cross-media-convergence and synergy played a part in the success of the media texts you have studied?"

Make sure you use this checklist in your planning 

- terminology (all we have discussed from our notes)

- Examples to back up your points from NZ + Blockbuster films 

- WWDITS example

- Air NZ example (for the Hobbit)

- Disney 

- Vertical + Horizontal integration 

- funding (issues around budgets for Blockbuster vs. Indi films)

- distribution  (how your chosen films were distributed)

- Dark Knight example 

- at least 1 theory 

Classwork: Synergy - what it is + examples (Monday)

 Hi class,

Task 1: In preparation for this week's essay, I want you to watch this video and make some detailed notes (in your own words), explaining what synergy is. 

You should also have some examples (like the Black panther examples) of how your case studies used examples of Synergy.  

 Task 2: Take a look at this slightly tedious but very informative video and make some notes on the difference between Cross-Media-Convergene and Synergy.

SLIDESHOW Video link 

Video with explanation of what synergy is 

Another good resource that we used in class. Scroll down to get to the slideshow about synergy + cross media convergence 

Link for synergy + cross media convergence slideshow

Classwork Tues

Hi guys,

Take a look at the article on Disney below;

Link to Disney Article

On your notes on ownership, make a list of issues outlined here that arise from Disney being so massive. Include any recent acquisitions and what this means for the film industry and audiences.

Then take a look at this link below;

Disney Article #2

Write down some details of how big Disney's reach is